The year is 1949. It’s been 4 years since the war ended, and the Soviet Union has emerged as one of the most powerful countries on earth. The future of the nation…
Category: Book/Event Reviews
Posts wirtten as Book/Event Reviews
Review of the Folk Instrument Museum: Most Unexpected Museum So Far
The Ykhlas Museum of Folk Musical Instruments can be found in downtown Almaty, right next to Panfilov park. It’s a small museum, entirely contained within an old and beautiful pre-soviet wooden building…
The Railroad on the Steppe: Review of The Gift to Stalin
The Kazakh steppe is a vast, neverending sea of rippling grasses and rolling hills stretching for miles out into the horizon. The narrator in the 2008 film The Gift to Stalin identifies…
Ethnocenter “NOMAD”: Immersion in Kazakh Culture
What do you know about the historic lifestyle of Kazakh nomads? Do you know anything about Kazakh cavalry armor? Or about Kazakh cooking? Perhaps you are Kazakhstani and have learned more from…
Dancing in the Moonlight: A Review of “Giselle”
Upon arrival at the Astana Opera House, guests are immediately greeted with a breathtaking experience, even before taking their seats. Visitors can admire the intricately decorated classical entrance hall while checking their…
Stalinism on the Steppe: A Film Review of “A Gift to Stalin”
There’s something powerful about film as a story-telling medium. Even though we’ve read books and articles about Kazakhstan under Stalinism, spoken to our host families, and even visited the site of an…
Ethnocenter “Nomad”: A cultural experience
Have you ever wanted to live like a Nomad? Live in a yurt? Travel around the steppe on your horse? Engage in combat with other nomads? Eat delicious foods? Maybe you’re on…
Art, Audience, and Axe Murderers: A Review of the ARTиШОК Crime and Punishment Production
What is the best way to honor a crucial text of the Russian canon? Maybe write an opera based on the novel like Eugene Onegin, or direct an eight hour movie like…
Window Through Time: A Review of Yury Dombrovsky’s “The Keeper of Antiquities”
Imagine you lived in a time and place where the authorities were ceaselessly and ruthlessly hunting for imagined enemies, where annoying your coworkers, a careless slip of the tongue, or even simply…
A Shot in the Arm of Pure Meaning: A Review of The Illustrated Guide to the Meanings of Almaty
I’ve lived most of my life in small, boring towns in the US which nobody writes about. These pleasant but unremarkable places seem designed to pass by unexamined, acting just as a…
